Smiley and Sunshine

49.

Fashionably (extremely) late, but I have arrived.
~~~~~~

Austin's eyes were closed but he was not asleep. No, he was praying to whoever happened to be listening to give him strength to get through these next several hours. Surely the family was due for their come-to-Jesus moment any time now.

That would be helpful.

His head was leaning against the backrest of the chair Glen was sitting on. His right hand mindlessly rubbed his kid's left shoulder, reminding Smiley that he was safe at home.

Thankfully, all the excitement had quickly died down in the family room as soon as Hayes ran out of the house, Baker hot on her tail. That left Austin to focus on Glen for the time being, knowing Hayes was in safe hands.

Colton briskly returned from the kitchen with a bag of ice wrapped in a kitchen towel to be applied to Glen's face along with some more unused tissues. He then picked up Francis' phone from the coffee table, switching from facetime to a normal private phone call to put Emerson's mind at rest. Colton slipped outside into the backyard, leaving Glen in the overbearing hands of Austin and Dakota to recover in a calming silence.

It took a couple minutes after that until Glen was no longer looking like he was going to pass out from the sight of his own blood nor was he mumbling frantic apologies without taking a breath.

Glen could finally breathe somewhat functionally again.

With that, the boy slowly began to loosen up as he recognized his surroundings. His posture became less on the defensive side and more towards recovery from the surprise attack. It took a good five more minutes before Austin convinced Glen to allow him to check his injured left side.

Another scar, another piece of his story.

Austin exhaled, releasing Glen's shirt so it dropped back down after determining there was nothing to do for the tender spot. He pressed a kiss to the crown of his head, letting the questions go unasked.

Glen could share on his own terms.

The eldest brother didn't leave his side for even a second throughout all of this, remaining kneeling on the carpet right beside him. A comforting presence as they got consumed in their own thoughts.

Even Dakota, who had enough anger to throw arms but no one to attack, slouched moodily on the couch. The stress ball in his hand must be indestructible at this point. Deceivingly quiet, his mind was whirling as he scrutinized Glen's fraught reaction.

After a total of 20 minutes passed, Glen shifted in his seat, coming alive again.

"I think it stopped," he mumbled, his bleary eyes looking upward from where they were locked on the corner of the coffee table.

"Here, let me see," Austin replied, blinking his eyes several times until his vision unblurred. He straightened up his posture, gently easing Glen's hand away from his nose and plucking the ice pack and bloody tissues out of his grasp. Austin chucked the stuff onto the coffee table before turning back to Glen. His right hand gripped Glen's chin, lifting the kid's head up to get a better look. "I think so too," Austin finally murmured, dropping his hand. "I don't think it is broken. After we wash the blood off, you'll put the ice back on again for another 20 minutes, yes?"

"Okay," Glen easily agreed. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, he was left feeling exhausted.

Austin crossed his forearms, resting them on his right knee and took this next second to just look at his little brother. A faint blush crept over Glen's cheeks in embarrassment when he met his blue eyes.